The unlikely HERO

the rounds,was of the opinion that being an actor would be a distant dream. “As a kid,I watched Amitabh Bachchan’s film Mard,and carved the word mard on my forearm with a knife. Later when I was 14,I watched Aamir Khan in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and loved his performance. Every time I watched their films,I envied them. But I never dreamt that I would be on the silver-screen someday and have a fan following too,” says an elated Manikpuri. Adding,“I’m very happy that I got such a big opportunity in my debut film.”

Manikpuri’s family is not closely related to theatre or Bollywood. The 40-year-old is the son of a day labourer. Manikpuri dropped out of school in class two. But when his family shifted to another town,a couple of years later,he was re-admitted in class one at the age of 11. He studied till class six and dropped out again when everyone started teasing him about his age.

But Manikpuri has no regrets. He is happy that success came his way,even though it was pretty late in his life. “I was noticed by late theater veteran,Habib Tanvir,and got a chance to work with Tanvir’s Naya Theatre,Bhopal,” he says. It was this theatre that helped him get the role in the critically-acclaimed Peepli [Live. “I was performing a play for Naya Theatre at Bhopal when one of the casting guys,who Anusha Rizvi had sent to watch the play,approached me and asked me to meet Aamir Khan,” says the actor,who used to make ends meet and support his family —consisting of his mother,wife and three children— by performing Nacha,the local folk theatre and odd construction jobs. After getting into Naya Theatre,he got to act in classics like Charandas Chor,Agra Bazaar and Kamdev Ka Apna Basant Ritu Ka Sapna. “I’ve come this far because of theatre. From learning the proper way to stand to delivering dialogues,theater has helped me,” he says.

But it was Peepli [Live that did the trick for the debutant; he has got roles in two Chhattisgarhi films and he finds himself being called Natha by strangers. “I don’t mind,” laughs the actor,who now refers to himself as Natha. To add to that,Manikpuri has also met Deepika Padukone. The actor says that he was keen to meet the actress after watching Om Shanti Om,and Aamir Khan fulfilld his wish. Ask him to name another Bollywood star he would love to meet,and he quips,“I would like to work with Amitabh Bachchan. I have watched most of his films. Among my favourites are Coolie,Naseeb and Mard,” he grins. Now that he has lasted success in Bollywood,will he prefer that over theatre? “I’d like to strike a balance between theatre and Bollywood,” he says.